Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

I have full custody of my three year old son, my ex-husband has liberal and reasonable rights to visitation. Over the past several months, communicating with him has become especially difficult due to some serious emotional issues on his end. For example, last night he texted me to ask if we could "talk" when we exchange our child, and after a short text conversation and then a phone call from him, it ended with "I'm glad that a piece of dick comes in between you being a good parent" and hung up on me--while our son was in the room with him. This has become a constant. He is continually disrespectful, curses me out in front of our child, refuses to be flexible in planning, refuses to communicate with me when I am trying to make arrangements for him to take our son for his scheduled weekend--the list goes on and on. This is not something that our child should be exposed to, nor is it something he should hear and see. Additionally, his actions are also extremely disrupting to the routine and structure of our son's life, and this can cause developmental and behavioral issues. Is there a way that I can have the court order counseling for us to attend? If I have to suck it up and deal with it, I will. Most of the time my response is to ignore his insults and curses, and I only attempt to communicate with him when it has to do with our child, but when he gets angry and has my son, I become concerned for the little guy's safety. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Asked on 6/23/12, 1:37 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Sher Wagshal and Sher

It sounds like you never put a marital separation agreement together prior to your divorce, because typically such a document would have an "anti-disparagement" provision. Whether you have a sufficient basis to file a show cause petition in court depends upon the language of the divorce judgment that was entered. It may well be silent as to such conduct. Even if it is, you might try a petition asking the court to order parental counseling on the basis that your ex's conduct is detrimental to the child. I suggest you consult with an experienced family attorney about this.

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Answered on 6/25/12, 1:21 pm


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